It is now common to find digital camera assemblies incorporated into many types of hand-portable electronic devices other than digital cameras. Such hand-portable electronic devices may encompass, for example, user-portable radio telephones (commonly known as mobile or cellular telephones), personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable video gaming devices, portable (e.g. digital) audio/video playback/recording devices or other devices incorporating one or more of the features of the aforementioned. Such hand-portable electronic devices tend to incorporate digital camera assemblies of increasing quality and functionality as various manufacturers compete with each other to provide improved facilities while maintaining portability of the device.
To enable camera assemblies in portable devices to function in a wider range of environments, it is advantageous to incorporate an illumination assembly. Images can then be captured using the camera assembly under lighting conditions that would otherwise be unsuitable or would result in poorer quality images.
Important factors that may need to be taken into account when incorporating an illumination assembly in a handheld electronic device include the following. Firstly, since the illumination assembly would not always be needed, it may be advantageous for it to be hidden when not in use. Secondly, the overall size of the device should not be greatly increased due to the presence of the illumination assembly. Thirdly, the illumination assembly may be a more delicate component, therefore needing additional protection, particularly as the handheld device may be subject to rough handling. Finally, the illumination assembly should be able to illuminate scenes in front of the camera assembly, which may be adapted to rotate or tilt relative to a viewing screen provided on the handheld device.
In particular, when camera assemblies are incorporated into handheld electronic devices, there is now a preference for the camera assembly to be adjustable such that images can be taken of either the user or of a scene in front of the user while the user views the image via a screen on the device. An adjustable camera assembly may typically be provided within a rotatable body part of the hand-portable electronic device. An imaging axis of the camera assembly may thereby be rotated towards or away from the user as desired. It would be advantageous therefore for an illumination assembly to be rotatable with the camera assembly, or to be able to otherwise direct light towards a scene to be imaged by the camera assembly.
It is to be understood that the term “imaging axis” used herein is intended primarily to be defined as being an imaginary axis drawn through an axis of rotational symmetry of a lens within the camera assembly. An imaging axis of a camera assembly will thereby typically be in line with the approximate centre of the field of view of the camera assembly. The imaging axis may alternatively be defined as being an imaginary line drawn from the centre of the imaging window of the camera assembly to the centre of the field of view or scene being imaged by the camera assembly.
One particular type of rotatable camera assembly found in a mobile telephone is described in WO 2005/083990, in which a hand-portable electronic device is disclosed having first and second body parts being rotatable relative to each other by means of a swivel hinge. The second body part comprises a digital camera input device, while the first body part comprises a screen for viewing images captured by the camera. Rotation of the second body part relative to the first body part allows the camera to be oriented in various directions relative to the screen.